Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup
Upcoming tournament
2026 Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup
SportRugby league
Instituted2008
RegionInternational (IRL)
HoldersEngland (2nd Title) (2021)
Most titlesEngland, France (2 titles)
Websiterlwc2021.com
Related competition

The Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup is an international wheelchair rugby league tournament contested by the top national teams. The tournament was first held in Australia as part of the 2008 Festival of World Cups and was upgrade to a centrepiece event in 2021.

History

The inaugural tournament took place as part of the 2008 Festival of World Cups and was held in Sydney, Australia. The four teams participating were Australia, England, France and a Barbarians V Pacific Islands team.[1][2] The fourth team were a replacement for New Zealand who withdrew before the start of the competition.[3] England were the first winners, defeating hosts Australia 44–12 in the final.[2]

In 2013 the tournament was held in Gillingham, England. The six teams that took part were Australia, England, France, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.[4] France won the competition, defeating England 42–40 in the final.[5][6][Note 1] Wales won 16–12 against Australia in the third-place play-off[9] and Ireland defeated Scotland 36–14 to finish fifth.[4]

France hosted the 2017 tournament and won 38–34 in the final against England to retain the title.[10] Seven teams took part in the tournament with the semi-finalists from 2013 placed in Group A and Italy, Spain and Scotland in Group B.[11] Australia, who had intended to host the tournament,[12] finished third after defeating newcomers Italy 58–45.[13] Spain, who were also making their first appearance at the world cup, lost 45–66 to Wales in the fifth-place play-off match.[14]

The 2021 tournament (played in 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic) saw the United States compete at the world cup for the first time.[15] Norway, who were also due to make their debut, withdrew from the competition in February 2022.[16] It was the first time that the wheelchair tournament was played simultaneously with the men's and women's competitions.[17] The hosts England defeated France 28–24 in the final in front of a wheelchair rugby league world record crowd of 4,526 at Manchester Central.[18]

Format

The tournament has been played using different formats depending on the number of teams participating. In 2013 the six teams were divided into two groups. Each team played the two teams in their group and one team from the other group. This determined the qualifiers for the semi-finals which were followed by the play-off matches and final.[19] In 2017 the seven teams were also divided into two groups, but this time Group A contained the four top ranked teams and Group B was made up of the lower ranked teams. The top two from Group A qualified for the semi-finals and were joined by the winners of play-offs between the top two Group B teams and the remaining Group A sides.[11] The 2021 tournament had two groups of four teams with the top two from each progressing to the semi-finals.[15][20]

Trophy

Nathan Collins with the trophy during celebrations at Old Trafford in 2022

In November 2019 a new trophy for the wheelchair tournament was unveiled. It shares a similar overall appearance to the men's and women's trophies and features imagery of wheelchair athletes in action.[17]

Results

Tournaments

Ed. Year Host Final Num.
teams
1st place, gold medalist(s) Champion Score 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
1 2008  Australia England 44–12[2]
Betts Stadium, Sydney[2] 		Australia 4
2 2013  England France 42–40[6]
Medway Park, Gillingham[21] 		England 6
3 2017  France France 38–34[13]
Parc des Expositions, Perpignan[8] 		England 7
4 2021  England England 28–24[22]
Manchester Central, Manchester[23] 		France 8

Participating teams

Team 2008
Australia 		2013
England 		2017
France 		2021
England
Australia 2nd[1] 4th[9] 3rd[13] SF[24]
Barbarians V 3rd/4th[a] – – –
England 1st[1] 2nd[10] 2nd[10] 1st[25][26]
France 3rd/4th[a] 1st[10] 1st[10] 2nd[26]
Ireland – 5th[4] – G[27]
Italy – – 4th[13] –
New Zealand w[3] – – –
Norway – – – w[16]
Scotland – 6th[4] 7th[11] G[27]
Spain – – 6th[14] G[27]
United States – – – G[27]
Wales – 3rd[9] 5th[14] SF[28]
  1. ^ a b no data for group standings/third-place play-off
Legend

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Some sources record the score as 44–40 to France[7][8]

References

  1. ^ a b c "England Wheelchair Rugby League win the World Cup". Sport Focus. 17 November 2008. Archived from the original on 17 October 2022. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d "Story of the 2008 World Cup". RLWC2001. 13 October 2022. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Wheelchair Rugby League tournament". 9 November 2008. Archived from the original on 12 November 2008.((cite web)): CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  4. ^ a b c d "wheelchair". Festival of World Cups 2013. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013.((cite web)): CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. ^ "Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup final: England 40-42 France". BBC Sport. 14 July 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  6. ^ a b "Match Report: Wheelchair World Cup Final". European Rugby League. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  7. ^ "Story of the 2013 World Cup". RLWC2001. 11 October 2022. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  8. ^ a b "Wheelchair World Cup". rugbyleague.wales. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  9. ^ a b c "Match Report: 2013 Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup Third-Place Play-Off". rugbyleague.wales. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  10. ^ a b c d e "Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup: England lose to France in final". BBC Sport. 28 July 2017. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  11. ^ a b c "Match Report (France v Wales 24 July 2017)". rugbyleague.wales. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  12. ^ "2017 WHEELCHAIR RUGBY LEAGUE WORLD CUP". rugbyleague.wales. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  13. ^ a b c d "Story of the 2017 World Cup". RLWC2001. 10 October 2022. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  14. ^ a b c "Match Report: 2017 Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup Fifth-Place Play-Off". rugbyleague.wales. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  15. ^ a b "Wheelchair tournament". RLWC2021. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  16. ^ a b "Ireland to replace Norway in Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup". RLWC2021. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  17. ^ a b "New Rugby League Wheelchair World Cup Trophy Revealed". RLWC2021. 25 November 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  18. ^ "Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup final: Tom Halliwell late try secures trophy for England". BBC Sport. 18 November 2022. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
  19. ^ "2013 WHEELCHAIR RUGBY LEAGUE WORLD CUP". wrl.wales. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  20. ^ "Rugby League World Cup 2021: Four reasons to follow the Wheelchair Rugby League tournament". BBC Bitesize. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  21. ^ "Medway urged to roar England on to World Cup wheelchair rugby glory". Kent Online. 30 April 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  22. ^ "England beat France to win Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup - reaction". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  23. ^ "Pressure on France in final - England's Halliwell". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  24. ^ "France Wheelchair 84 – 40 Australia Wheelchair". RLWC2021. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  25. ^ "England beat France to win Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup - reaction". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  26. ^ a b "France Wheelchair 24 – 28 England Wheelchair". RLWC2021. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  27. ^ a b c d "Standings". RLWC2021. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  28. ^ "England Wheelchair 125 – 22 Wales Wheelchair". RLWC2021. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
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